The rice feeding ceremony or weaning ceremony, which is also called pasni in Nepali, is a Nepali tradition, a ceremony where the newborn child is fed solid food for the first time, i.e. rice. An infant daughter’s rice feeding ceremony takes place after five months of her birth, and a newborn son’s after six months, as it is believed the daughter matures a little earlier than a son. The rice feeding ceremony is one of the special events for the parents, and it is a celebration of infants beginning to eat rice, as Nepalese consume rice twice a day.
There is no exact date for the rice-feeding ceremony, but a priest decides auspicious date and time. Most Parents these days would grandly celebrate the event. They organize a party inviting their relatives, friends or colleagues as well. Rice feeding ceremony invitation cards are distributed to their friends and families. The most crucial part of the rice feeding ceremony is feeding a baby with a bowl of rice kept in the silver bowl fed with a silver spoon. Parents dress up their babies in beautiful attire; most parents gift little ones with gold bangles, traditional pancharatna bangles, gold beruwa rings, gold hoop earrings etc.
The ceremony gets interesting when the silver plate is kept along with silver glass, and different items like books, clay, jewels, pens etc., are placed on a plate and kept in front of the baby to choose one from it. It is believed that babies will choose careers according to what he/she chooses from the plate, as different items symbolize different career choices. The maternal uncle of the baby mostly gifts a silver kali to the baby as it symbolizes protection from the evil eye as it has cravings of a dragon at the end. Other relatives and friends also give blessings with gifts like silver bangles, silver bracelets etc.